The rebound anxiety

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, and I was thinking about asking if we could pump on the breaks a little bit with this clonazepam taper. I'm down to 2mg right now (was at 4, so I'm at the halfway mark), and I noticed that I have really bad rebound anxiety every other day, and I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. Last night my rebound anxiety was so bad it turned into a paranoia attack, and I was shaking, heart pounding, terrified of everything, some recurrent psychosis symptoms, every sound made me jump, and I think I was on the verge of having a panic attack.

I ended up taking 50mg of seroquel just to calm myself down (I know. Bad. I'm not supposed to be on it anymore, and I hate it besides). I thought I was losing my mind. It helped. I had a great night of sleep. Apparently I don't know how to sleep anymore without being knocked out by seroquel.

Anyway, so tomorrow I have to ask this woman what we can do about this! I want to be off clonazepam, but I can't stand this rebound anxiety. I feel like I did BEFORE I was put on benzos, but one million times worse, and it was bad then.

If you are an anxious person, what do you take for it? (Besides a benzo, or vistaril/atarax.)

I think I've already asked this, but I just want to go in with some ideas. This pdoc is so intense. I want to have some suggestions.

She wants to take me off lamictal and put me on depakote, and at this moment in time I don't think I can handle weaning off of clonazepam AND lamictal at the same time, never mind the fact I don't want to be on depakote. Lamictal tapering is no picnic. I know. I've done it before.

This just sucks. Just boo hoo.

I'm sorry you're having to go through this. I don't take anything for anxiety. But I don't have panic and anxiety attacks on the regular. I just have a low grade anxiety that follows me around. I guess I'm so used to it it doesn't phase me that much anymore. But like I said I don't get panic attacks very often. Maybe you should look in to some cbt strategies for managing anxiety? If this pdoc is determined not to give you any meds for it, you may have no other choice.

Yeah. I know. I don't think the benzo nazi is going to help me, unless she has something else up her sleeve (what, no idea, I don't do AD's). I have some books. Going to do some reading regarding ways to combat my anxiety, so I know what I can do when it becomes completely overwhelming (which, I anticipate, will probably be all of the time again, like it used to be. Anxiety was the main reason why I went to see someone in the first place. The depression was secondary.).

I will be fantastic. Taking anxiety by the balls.

What is with p-docs these days and their mad drive to rip everyone off Klonopin?!?!?!?!

When I first started seeing my p-doc a few months ago I told her I'd been on K-pin for 20 years and want to come off it slllooowwllly. Like, over a full year or even 18 months.

Man, she jumped on it like she was on fire! Bang, she dropped me down, two weeks later dropped me down - I said WHOA! What about Benzo Withdrawal Syndrome (which I had the hell of experiencing some years ago from trying to come off K-pin too quickly)? How about this awful insomnia and anxiety I'm already experiencing? She came back with a bunch of totally BS answers. I mean, really weak.

Personally, I think benzos are out of vogue because they are not making the money for pharma like they used to.

Anyway. Trazadone is usually an excellent option for severe anxiety and can help with insomnia. If I'm feeling very anxious I take a small amount of Trazadone (25-50mg) during the day. I am actually prescribed up to 400mg/night for sleep (prn, but some people take it every night).

Inderal has also been very helpful for me with regard to anxiety and I don't notice any side-effects from it.

Best to you...I really feel for you.

Thanks, laura. I've really been having a hard time, and you made me feel less alone in my current situation.

I'm going to ask to be put back on propranolol.

What about buspar? I was prescribed that pre BP diagnosis and it helped. And also things like benadryl(which is pretty much the same as Vistaril), and natural supplements like valerian, chamomile, and kava kava.
And advocate for yourself about this taper. Everything I've read is that slooooww is best. I was weaned off a big benzo habit in rehab and they did it so quickly (the insurance wouldn't pay for a slow taper or more time on the detox ward). It was not a fun experience.
Otherwise, I found yoga, meditation, and general mindfulness very helpful.

they refuse to give me klonopin anymore... even though i was on it for a good solid 3 years, they took me off it like it was candy and i had too many cavities

my pdoc actually isnt giving me anything for anxiety, he had me taking zyprexa and seroquel but i stopped the zyprexa due to gynecomastia... the zyprexa helped with the anxiety but im not compromising my physical wellbeing when there could be something else i could take...

i've tried buspar as well, it works for some people but it didnt help with my severe anxiety

i've tried proponalol as well and it just doesnt help with my anxiety...

the best thing i've found for my anxiety is weed and alcohol, unfortunately... oddly stimulants calm me down too...

im sorry your having anxiety problems, i wouldnt wish it on my enemies

Yeah, I forgot to mention weed, especially indica strains. Honestly it works better than benzos anyway. Alcohol on the other hand does nothing but create chaos in experience, especially with meds.

I was put on buspar at one point. Unfortunately it made me physically sick. I'll look into valerian. I bought it one time, but never tried it. I'll try it now though.

I find it interesting how when you have severe anxiety, it seems like you're supposed to just think and breathe your way out of it, and doctors don't take it seriously, but no one is telling a depressed person to just think their way out of depression. Just an observation.

Marijuana makes my anxiety and paranoia worse. (And I don't want to start doing an illegal drug. Lol. It's not legal in my state.)

Thinking my way out of a severe anxiety attack is next to impossible since there is no way way I could think clearly enough to use any techniques. All I could do was scream into a pillow and curl up in a fetal position until it went away.

I did notice that my anxiety was greatly reduced when my Riperdal was increased to 6 mg but I would still be lost without my benzo (ativan). I also used 1/2 of a Zopiclone tablet to stop anxiety.

raspberry, you're definitely not alone. Someone on PC recommended this website a while back. I registered, but haven't really checked it out. It's supposed to be a helpful site: http://www.benzobuddies.org/

What about Marinol? Do Pdocs ever prescribe that to people who can't access cannibis legally? Or affordably? One of the side effects is relaxation...

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I don't think you can get Marinol in states where pot is illegal. A damn shame in my opinion. The whole system is backwards.

There are many other things to try out there. I know that the facility I went to tries to wean everyone off benzos. I had Ativan on admission, but was switched to Buspar. I'd only been prescribed the Ativan for a week, so no worry on withdrawal there. Buspar seems to work for me, at least for now. Trazodone is a lifesaver for sleep!

I hope that something can be found for you soon!

I wish buspar didn't make me so sick and pukey feeling because when I was on (about two weeks before I couldn't stand constantly feeling like throwing up!) it seemed to help with my anxiety.

Raspberry, I hope they can find something for you!

Thanks, firekitty. I hope so too.

How did your p-doc visit go?

Oh, thanks for asking. ) It went well. She upped my vistaril and told me to call on monday if the dosage increase doesn't help my anxiety, and if it doesn't she'll put me back on propranolol because she doesn't want me on six meds at the same time. Hopefully the dose increase will help. And she prescribed trazodone for my sleeping problems.

Sounds great! I hope the dosage increase and the new meds help. Anxiety is pure hell.

Benzos are very effective, but because they are so addictive, have a high potential for abuse, and the pt develops tolerance very quickly, as well as the hellacious withdrawal syndrome, most all GPs and even most Psychiatrists will not prescribe it for outpatient use anymore. If you are an inpatient in a psych facility, you may get some, but only for a few days. SSRIs when appropriate, and otherwise Vistaril are now the "go to" meds. I hate it but I understand it.